ERNEST HOLZMAN

When Ernest Holzman (b. 1951, Mexico City) was fifteen years old, he was given his first camera; a Leica M4 with a 50 mm lens. Originally a gift for his father from a colleague at the German Embassy, his father knew his son would put the camera to better use. Bored with high school, Holzman soon found himself walking the streets of New York, never searching for anything in particular to photograph, but always with the camera by his side. A novice in his newfound hobby, Holzman persuaded a man he met who worked for the Black Star Agency into giving him a few freelance assignments, which lead to being published anonymously in several obscure trade publications.

As a young and ambitious photographer, Holzman would knock on doors and convince people to let him shoot in places not open to the public. One night, after a run in with the authorities, Holzman spent the night in jail. After his release, he returned the following day and asked the jailer for permission to photograph the intriguing inmates he had befriended. The jailer agreed, with the condition that Holzman maintain their anonymity and only shoot their silhouettes, as seen in the photograph titled SOLITAIRE.

An inspired Holzman traveled to bizarre places, lugging around his not so compact 5x7 and 4x5 cameras and a portable darkroom in the back of his car. This was just the beginning of what became a career in photography that has spanned nearly three decades.

Under Over is an intimate collection of fourteen photographs taken between 1966-1972, primarily in cities east of the Mississippi. This will be Holzman’s first gallery exhibition of these vintage photographs.